


Ice Breaker

by SearchingWolf



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 11:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8205442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SearchingWolf/pseuds/SearchingWolf
Summary: While the group is out and about, they encounter someone that needs rescued; only to realize it might cost someone their life. (An angst and fluff short story!)





	

The frost hung thick in the air, and there was just the slightest crunch of footprints as the Inquisitor, Bull, Solas, and Varric marched along. They were supposed to be tracking down a group of rogue templars that were rumored to be smuggling red lyrium, and they were trying to take a short cut up through the mountains. Larka couldnt help but chuckle as she heard Bull and Varric chattering back and forth. Varric, of course, was keeping up a constant stream of complaints about the cold.

"I mean, why bother even living in a place that gets this cold?" he shivered underneath a thick rogue's coat.

"Aw, poor Dwarves just can't stand a bit of chilly weather, can they?" Bull laughed, and Larka chuckled as they trumped along. "You wouldn't believe some of the storms we had in Saharen. It'd be hot as hell one minute, and the next you're knee deep in freezing flood water."

"You know, you're making it very easy for me to never want to visit anywhere in your homeland," Varric huffed. Larka traded a look with Solas, and her cheeks flushed just slightly when their eyes met. As the complaining went on, and they crested a hill, Larka stopped suddenly and tilted her head at a sound she could hear in the distance. She held her fist up to the others, and Varric, Bull, and Solas instantly crouched and spread out around her, a stillness filling the air.

"Do you hear that?" She whispered, glancing at the others, and they all shook their heads no. After a few more moments of silence, they could make out what sounded like a small voice calling for help.

"That way!" Bull shouted, and he took the lead as he charged towards the sound. Larka sprinted after him, her bow in her hand and her eyes darting around for any signs of danger. Varric came after her, and Solas brought up the rear. It was a short sprint across the frost covered ground and through some trees when suddenly Larka ran right into the back of Iron Bull, who did not give way at all and was like running into a brick wall. She would have ricocheted right onto the ground had Solas not caught her before she fell, and he righted her quickly so she could step up to see why Bull had stopped. He pointed, and she sucked in her breathe. There was a small child standing out across the way, crying and shivering, holding a small stuffed toy. Larka was about to run out to get her when Bull's arm flung out across her chest, and she look at him in frustration.

"What are you stopping for??" she asked, trying to push his arm away so she could go get the child. Bull pointed down to where he was standing, and Larka gasped and took a step back. Where Bull's right foot was in front of the rest of him, there was a spider worked pattern spreading from underneath it, and that's when it hit her.

The child was standing on ice.

Larka looked up and got a better look of their surroundings. It was a river; a fairly large one, that looked as if it was frozen solid. But, looking back at Bull's foot, it clearly wasn't frozen enough.

"Ok...Ok," Larka huffed, and she pushed Bull back. "Who here is the lightest?" They all looked at her, and she gritted her teeth as she turned to look back out at the small child crying and shivering on the ice. "Can you hear me?" She called out across the ice, trying to sound calm and reassuring. She saw the little girl nod, her mop of blonde hair falling over her face. "Ok, I want you to stay there, ok? I'm going to come and get you, don't be scared!" Larka called out, trying to smile enough to sound confident. The girl cried and shivered some more, and Larka turned around to her companions.

"Boss..." Bull hissed, but Larka was already stripping out of her equipment. Solas and Varric immediately stepped up to her and started helping her unbuckle the heaviest pieces of her leather armor.

"Bull, I'm not just going to leave her there," She huffed.

"What if it's a trap?" Varric asked, shielding his eyes against the glare as he looked around.

"That's a chance I'm going to have to take, I WON'T leave the little girl out there," She said firmly, and she looked Solas in the eyes as she handed him the rest of her stuff. Her fingers grazed against his, and he gave her a slight nod. "You guys stay here, and I'm going to try and ease across the ice as best as I can. Solas, lend me your staff."

"Be careful, Inquisitor," Solas said, and she nodded at him before she stepped out softly onto the ice. She tried to keep her feet spread apart, and at first she didn't have any problems, she just inched across the ice. It really wasn't that far across when you thought about it, but she knew that the current underneath the ice would be strong, and not to mention the risk of freezing. She looked up to check on the child, who was watching her with a fearful, tear streaked face. She was about halfway to the girl when she hit a spot that wasn't completely frozen, and she had to reposition as the ice beneath her crackled and pop. She had to stop and take a breath, shaking slightly from the cold. She was wearing only her light leather pants and shirt, having left the heaviest of her clothes at the shore. She heard Bull and Varric calling encouraging words to her, and she gave them a thumbs up as she kept inching. She saw the little girl start whimpering and start inching toward her.

"No! Stay there!" She said loudly and firmly, and the little girl froze, her hair covering her face. "Listen to me now Da'len, ok? I don't want the ice to break and you to fall in, ok? So just stay where you are." The little girl started crying again, and Larka slid down onto her hands and knees as she inched closer and closer. The ice was getting thinner and thinner and she knew she was running out of time, so she got Solas' staff out and started reaching it across towards the girl. Some part of her mind had to give thanks to Harritt for making this particular staff with a slight hoop on the end. She heard more popping and cracking as she leaned towards the girl, and she knew it was now or nothing. She wrapped the staff around the girl's waist and gave a pull, the girl tumbling into her arms, and before the girl could grab hold, she turned and flung her as carefully as she could across the rest of the ice towards the rest of her companions. She had just enough time to see Bull catch the girl as she slid to the bank before the there was a deafening crack, and she plunged down into the ice cold water.It was so cold and freezing that she couldn't think, she couldn't act, she couldn't even breath. It was like she was being stung by thousands of needles. Her hands swung up towards the surface only to encounter ice, and her fingers scrabbled as she tried to grab hold of something, anything. But the current was already sweeping her away, and she thought she saw a face in the ice above her as her lungs burned for air. She gave one last attempt to pound the ice or grab on, before her body tried to take an instinctual breath and she gave in to the creeping darkness.

*****

Cold. It was so cold. And hard. And something kept thumping into her, but she just couldn't figure out what. She could hear something, but it sounded very muffled and far away. Couldn't they just let her keep sleeping? She was so tired. She just wanted to rest.

"What do you think you are doing?!" Boy, that voice sounded angry. Why was it angry? Everyone should just be sleeping.

"I'm trying to save her!!" Another angry voice. Boy, it just kept going. And why wasn't the thumping stopping??

"Chuckles, STOP! Let him-"

"He has no reason to be doing that, he is-"

"SAVING HER LIFE!!" Wait, Chuckles? Wasn't that what Varric called Solas? Varric. Iron Bull. The little girl. Ice. Cold. Solas.

SOLAS.

Now she understood what the thumping was, and her body convulsed as it forced her to spew the water from her lungs. She coughed, choked, sputtered, and gasped for breath as her body kept pumping the ice cold death from her. She felt a warm body turn her onto her side, and a solid hand was thumping on her back.

"There we go, good job Boss, get it all out," She could hear Bull's voice panting. Larka's whole body was shuddering and shivering and she felt other hands on her. "We have to get her out of these clothes. Solas! Get a fire going, or she'll freeze to death," she heard Bull bark, and she felt her body leave the ground. She drifted in and out of consciousness and at some point she knew someone was gingerly stripping the freezing clothes off of her. When she finally came too, she could feel a warmth behind her and a blazing warmth in front of her. It felt like something was wrapped around her stomach, and she couldn't help but snuggle back into it and the warmth, her throat raw and her eyes heavy.

"Vhenan?" a soft voice whispered in her ear, and she hummed softly back in response. The arms tightened around her and she felt a shuddering sigh. "You had us scared there for a moment." Larka nodded as best she could and she opened her eyes blearily. A warm, orange fire blazed in front of her, and she could see the camp that was set up around them. It was dark now, and the stars twinkled brightly in the sky.

"Hey there Boss!" Bull said loudly, and she gave him a small smile as he grinned heartily back. "Glad to have you back!"

"Yeah you missed the amazing rescue," Varric laughed as he plopped down next to them. "Bull dragged you out of the ice and started beating the life back into you." Bull laughed and Larka smiled as they went into a detailed recount of how Bull had learned how to save those that were almost drowned by pumping their chests and blowing air into their mouths, and how they thought she was a goner but he had hauled her back from the dead. "Poor Chuckles over there about fried Tiny when he saw what he was doing to you," Varric laughed, slapping his knee. "I had to pry him back." Larka smiled and leaned back against Solas who gave her a reassuring squeeze back.

"Oh, and the girl, we have her wrapped up and tucked in to one of the tents. She got separated from her group and I'm pretty sure I know how to get her back. Good job, Boss," Bull said, and Larka nodded at him gratefully.

"Oh you should have seen it, that little girl must have never seen a Qunari before. She INSISTED on riding on Tiny's horns the whole evening." Varric and Bull busted up laughing and immediately went into a recount of that story. Larka closed her eyes and sighed contentedly as she leaned back into the warm chest of Solas behind her. She felt soft lips press against her head and let herself drift back into a restful sleep.


End file.
